Sometimes

Sometimes I wish I were a turtle. I would rip my stupid shell off and leave it as a remnant of reality. I’d climb a tree, jump onto the Golden Gate Bridge, eat a car. Sometimes I want to do something I know I can’t. Sometimes I want to do something the laws of physics won’t permit me to do. Sometimes I want to burn the last shreds of reality that link me to this very real world and sometimes, I want to know that the order we believe this universe harbors is fake. A stupid imagination of philistine beings that find comfort in the stasis, the unchanging, the boredom. Sometimes, I want to reject everything I ever thought was true. Grab a shark and kick it’s ass. Yeah, sometimes, I want to do it all. That’s what I want to do sometimes. There are times other than sometimes, but I don’t want to do anything in those times. I don’t want to kick a shark’s ass, I don’t want to be a turtle. I can’t. It’s impossible. But sometimes I do.

US ‘concerns’ over Taiwan-China Relations

A small island in the Western Pacific ocean, Taiwan is located off the southeastern shore of mainland China. During World War II, it was held by Japanese forces and later occupied by General Chiang Kai-shek and supporters of the Nationalist Party. Today, it is home to over 22 million people and its bustling economy has placed it foremost among the East Asian “Tigers”. Despite strong economic ties with China, the relationship between Taiwan and China has recently been shrouded with uneasiness. This period of instability has been further irritated by US attempts to “alleviate” the situation. Flip-flopping in US policy towards Taiwan and China serves only the deepen the mistrust. If the US continues in its ostensibly earnest “favors”, the situation can only get worse.

In the years following World War II, the Communist Revolution in China forced Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party to flee the mainland and occupy Taiwan. The US, concerned with the threat of Communism in “Red China”, limited relationships with the mainland and, along with many other western bloc nations, recognized the Republic of China (Taiwan) as the sole government and representative of China. When tensions arose in the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman ordered the 7th Fleet to the Strait of Taiwan and provided Taiwan with funds and military supplies through the Lend Lease Act. But was US interest in protecting Taiwan from China genuine? Not if we let events speak for themselves; in the 1960s, the US overlooked the Republic of China in favor of the People’s Republic of China, and in the years that followed, severed all diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Genuine concern for the protection of Taiwan? I think not.

All seemed well in the tentative marriage of China and the US; by breaking diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the Nixon administration had essentially accepted the One China Policy. But wait, it gets better. After the supposed cut off of relations with Taiwan, the US resumed the sale of arms to Taiwan, unofficially, of course. After China began to test intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the US provided further support to Taiwan when President Clinton sent warships to the Strait of Taiwan. The second time in history, the US had sent a fleet of warships to interpose between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Relations with Taiwan seemed to be going well; in a period of three years, from 2003 to 2006, the US had supplied Taiwan with $4.1 billion in weapons. And yet, this relationship met a hitch when in 2007 to 2008, the US suspended the sale of weapons to Taiwan. Soon enough, in October of 2008, the US struck a deal to sell $6.4 billion worth of military equipment. It’s difficult to see the logic in helping a country preserve peace by selling it weapons.

Given the past record of the US in Taiwan-China relations, it becomes plain to see that the term “flip-flopping” is not an overstatement. If the Taiwan-China issue is a fire, the US is simply kindling the flames. In addition, it is difficult to discern the motives behind US foreign policy regarding Taiwan and China. Does the US support China? If so, why is it supplying arms to Taiwan? Then perhaps the US support Taiwan? If so, why are packages addressed from Taiwan labeled, “Taiwan, China”? One thing is for certain, the US sure wasn’t shy about expressing its distaste in the former Soviet Union’s excursions in Afghanistan; do I smell hypocrisy? The bottom line is this: US intervention in the Taiwan-China issue establishes the US as a flip-flopper and hurts relations between Taiwan and China.

On the Benefits of Walking

Whether it is some primal instinct, or maybe it’s just because I’m slightly mentally retarded: I can’t think when I run. When I run, my mind simply disappears. It’s not like day dreaming, or even dreaming. I simply cannot think while I run. I would venture to say that it is quite possible that the reason I can’t think while I run may be due to some antediluvian impulse passed down through generations of homo sapiens that perhaps originated from an omnipresent desire to capture food. What I mean to say is that when homo sapiens first ran, it may have been to catch an animal, and this desire to capture it would blot out all thoughts in the mind. Certainly, this is all speculation, but it’s quite convincing when you consider the abstruse determination of our species: the will to win. We can observe this in our need for competition, and the determination to reach a certain goal. Anyhow, when I run, I very literally become a blathering twit. But to quote Henry David Thoreau, “In my walks, I would like to return to my senses.” And this is precisely what I would hope to accomplish in my walks.

Thoreau was a well-known proponent of the environment, as can be seen in his famous book, Walden. He believed in living a simple life; he disliked the super malls and towering skyscrapers proclaiming the awesome power of man. Not to say he was a misanthrope, nor was he a pessimist; rather, he was a transcendentalist. Though I have indeed previously quoted him, I, in no means, am advocating his ideas. While I, too, see the danger in the expansion of industry and the encroachment on nature, I believe that man and nature can coexist. On my walks, I have noticed that simple rows of suburban houses, ever-present in every suburban neighborhood, provide a sense of tranquility, one suitably complemented with sporadic sprouts of nature. Now what does this have to do with running? I am quite ashamed to admit, but I find that I am a member of a group of sapiens rather lacking in a relatively stalwart sense of determination, and I find that at the slightest indication of weariness, I feel the need to walk. And perhaps this is a good thing; for on my walks, I have noticed what few have noticed. And so it should be, for one can only truly find oneself in the nature of one’s thoughts. It is this realm of effervescent thoughts that I believe is triggered by a stroll down the street. What street? Well, any street will do. Walking, so it would seem, is a thinking man’s sport. Why, in no other sport is the mind so unrestrained, so free. And where the mind wanders, fascinating thoughts can be found. I should like to share an example: as I was walking, just yesterday, down a small street, I came upon a book. Left probably by an absent-minded toddler, it was a story of wonderful things, or so it seemed from the cover; it was a children’s book. And then I thought to myself: what would the world be like if it were this children’s book. Well, I said to myself, it would have to have peace…yes, everlasting peace…and also a hapless damsel in distress…oh, yes, and a gallant knight in shining armor. And this led me to think, in modern society, who’s the damsel in distress and who’s the knight in shining armor? And so, my mind wandered, free from the restraints of the present.

I have never been much inclined towards the science of the mind. And were I to explain the science behind the wandering of the mind, I would fail miserably. And yet, to me, there are some things I believe one does not need to understand to enjoy. Take, for example, Jell-O. Do I really need to, or want to, know how Jell-O is made to enjoy it? The answer is No. And by the way, in case you didn’t know, Jell-O is made by grinding cow bones, pig bones, or horse hooves, and boiling it to extract collagen, which is used to make the gelatin base of Jell-O, just thought I’d let you know. Back to the point, I don’t understand fully why our minds work as they do. But I believe that the way it, being the mind, acts whilst walking is truly a miracle. Walking, to me, is much more than physical exercise; it is, as it were, a testament to what makes us human: the power to think.